To provide wireless connectivity and communication between devices in a wireless network such as a wireless PAN (personal area network), a wireless LAN (local area network) a wireless WAN (wide area network), a cellular network, or virtually any radio network or system), it is necessary to equip the receivers and transmitters (or tranceivers) with antennas to efficiently radiate (transmit) or receiver the desired signals to/from other elements of the network.
Various types of antennas may be implemented in such communications networks and devices including, for example, a conventional printed circuit antenna as shown in FIG. 1. More specifically, FIG. 1 depicts a conventional planar circuit board antenna (10) comprising a planar dielectric substrate (11) (or circuit board) having a printed antenna (12) over a ground plane (13) at a distance h, wherein the printed antenna (12) and ground plane (13) are formed on opposite sides of the dielectric substrate (11). An antenna framework as depicted in FIG. 1 with a printed antenna on a dielectric substrate/circuit board with a reflecting ground plane below is typically used for applications in which it is desirable to limit the antenna radiation to the upper hemisphere above the antenna (10).